Dixie Chicks arise from ashes of boycott. Will they land in the mainstream?

Published 4:00 am, Friday, February 16, 2007

Photo: MIKE BLAKE

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The Dixie Chicks (L-R) Emily Robison, Natalie Maines and Martie Maguire pose with their Grammys at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles February 11, 2007. The group won the Record of The Year, Song of the Year and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Not Ready to Make Nice"; and Best Country Album and Album of the Year for "Taking The Long Way". REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES) less

The Dixie Chicks (L-R) Emily Robison, Natalie Maines and Martie Maguire pose with their Grammys at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles February 11, 2007. The group won the Record of The Year, Song of ... more

Photo: MIKE BLAKE

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Natalie Maines and The Dixie Chicks perform the song "Not Ready to Make Nice" at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Natalie Maines and The Dixie Chicks perform the song "Not Ready to Make Nice" at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Photo: Mark J. Terrill

Dixie Chicks arise from ashes of boycott. Will they land in the mainstream?

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The Dixie Chicks' five-for-five sweep on Sunday at the 49th annual Grammy Awards offered a measure of vindication after almost four years of blacklisting by country music radio, and many saw the victory as a political statement by the recording academy voters. Now the Texas trio is looking to capitalize on those Grammy wins to reposition itself as a mainstream act.

The group's single "Not Ready to Make Nice" and latest studio release, "Taking the Long Way," won all three top awards -- record, song and album of the year.

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It's been a long, hard climb for the group. Four years ago, Chicks singer Natalie Maines told a small crowd at Shepherds Bush Empire in London, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."

Maines' off-the-cuff remark on the eve of the Iraq invasion -- a day of giant anti-war protests in London -- raised hell with the group's core, red-state audience. Country music radio immediately banned its records. Death threats and boycotts followed radio embargoes and canceled tour dates. One station in Shreveport, La., rented a 33,000-pound bulldozer to crush the Dixie Chicks' compact discs and merchandise.

"This is a situation with artists that no one has had to face before," said Gregg Perloff of Another Planet Entertainment, promoters of the group's recent Bay Area concert. "Many of us believe they put out a truly great record. It sold a million copies in the first couple of weeks. They had a huge hit record and they weren't selling tickets. There's never been this kind of disconnect before."

Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire quickly went from issuing a half-hearted apologetic press release to turning defiant, playing in venues where they faced physical danger and posing nude on the cover of Entertainment Weekly with epithets scrawled on their bodies such as "Dixie Sluts" and "Saddam's Angels." A documentary, "Shut Up & Sing," by Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple, followed the fallout.

The Dixie Chicks also won Grammys for best country performance by a duo or group with vocal, and "Taking the Long Way" won best country album, but it was completely shut out at the Country Music Association awards in November.

Now the Chicks hope to find a new roost with a mainstream pop audience, alongside the John Mayers and Norah Joneses of the world. Even before the controversy erupted, the group had made a crossover bid with its 2002 release, "Home," which included covers of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" and Patty Griffin's "Top of the World."

Pushing that strategy even further, "Taking the Long Way," meanwhile, was made with Rick Rubin, the Hollywood-based uber-producer behind career-defining albums for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys and Johnny Cash. The Chicks took a strong hand in writing the album's material, including the Grammy-winning hit single, "Not Ready to Make Nice."

Friends and supporters call the Grammys sweep a victory for free speech. There is evidence that the group has gained a whole new, blue-state following because of the debate surrounding the musicians' public statements.

"Resistance from country radio slowed them down, but they did fine," Rolling Stone's Levy said. "I saw them play Madison Square Garden and it has been a long time since I had seen a crowd that ecstatic. They got a Springsteen-like reception."

Perloff agreed. "They may be shot at country radio, but there's a big world outside country radio."

One music giant who knows what Grammys can do for a career is Bonnie Raitt, whose four 1990 statuettes gave her a huge career boost.

"They are three women who stepped up and garnered a tremendous amount of respect," she said. "They're heroes to me."

The Grammys this year drew an estimated 20.1 million viewers and sent CBS to first place in the ratings for the week, giving the Chicks an unprecedented audience to witness their triumph.

"While this does have a feeling of another midterm election -- where another set of voters got to express their displeasure with George Bush and the war in Iraq and the treatment of the Dixie Chicks by radio and their fans -- it does have to do with the music, as well," Levy said. "They couldn't get there on politics alone."

The day following the awards, "Not Ready to Make Nice" shot to the No. 1 position on the iTunes chart, while "Taking the Long Way" climbed up to No. 1 on both iTunes and Amazon, with chart jumps in the music trades due next week. Early reports indicate a staggering 830 percent increase in sales.

"The Dixie Chicks wrote a collection of songs that came from the heart, and it feels so good to see that so many people connected with this work," Rubin said.

At the same time, it looks like the Grammy wins may have only deepened country radio's resolve. "Most country stations aren't playing the Chicks, and they aren't going to start now," said Jim Jacobs, owner of WTDR-FM, in Talladega, Ala.

The group avoided making any overtly political statements during its acceptance speeches on Sunday. Taking the award for song of the year for "Not Ready to Make Nice," Maines stammered, "For the first time in my life, I'm speechless."

And remains so. The group declined to comment for this story and others.

"I think when they collect themselves with a little help they will see they have the potential to be a really positive force," said Joan Baez, who introduced the band at the Grammys. "They're so visible right now they probably don't have any idea how much power they have."

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